Michele Riva

Things I learned while writing high-performance JavaScript applications

We built a full-text search engine in JavaScript that rivals Rust's performance. Here's how we did it using four key principles.

Things I learned while writing high-performance JavaScript applications
#1about 5 minutes

The four pillars of high-performance JavaScript

JavaScript can be as fast as lower-level languages by focusing on four key areas: algorithms, dependencies, optimizations, and architecture.

#2about 5 minutes

The importance of algorithms and data structures

Learning algorithms should be driven by practical goals like side projects, not just passing interviews at large tech companies.

#3about 4 minutes

Managing dependencies for better performance

Categorize dependencies as inevitable, convenient, or empowering to avoid unnecessary overhead from general-purpose libraries like Lodash.

#4about 6 minutes

Optimizing code by understanding the V8 runtime

Write faster code by using imperative programming, understanding V8 engine features like TurboFan, and using monomorphic functions.

#5about 4 minutes

How software architecture impacts performance

Performance strategies must adapt to the execution environment, such as browsers, servers, or constrained nano services like Cloudflare Workers.

#6about 2 minutes

Balancing performance metrics beyond raw speed

Consider performance trade-offs between raw execution speed, iteration speed for development, and team onboarding efficiency.

#7about 2 minutes

Q&A on TypeScript, clean code, and algorithms

The speaker answers audience questions about using TypeScript without performance penalties, the trade-offs of "dirty" code, and Dijkstra's algorithm.

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Matching moments

Introducing Lyra, a fast TypeScript search engine
02:18 MIN

Introducing Lyra, a fast TypeScript search engine

Writing a full-text search engine in TypeScript

The two primary approaches for improving frontend performance
01:57 MIN

The two primary approaches for improving frontend performance

To New Frontiers: The Future of Frontend Development

Exploring modern JavaScript performance and new CSS features
08:07 MIN

Exploring modern JavaScript performance and new CSS features

WeAreDevelopers LIVE – AI, Freelancing, Keeping Up with Tech and More

Why JavaScript and TypeScript dominate modern development
03:57 MIN

Why JavaScript and TypeScript dominate modern development

Modern Headless Commerce with Vendure

Why front-end performance matters for business success
01:56 MIN

Why front-end performance matters for business success

Multithreading in Javascript: A guide to Web Workers

Navigating the complexity of performance debugging tools
06:13 MIN

Navigating the complexity of performance debugging tools

WeAreDevelopers LIVE - Rendering in the Browser, The State of CSS and Accessibility and more

Q&A on performance, interfaces, and advanced learning
04:23 MIN

Q&A on performance, interfaces, and advanced learning

Where we're going we don't need JavaScript - Programming with Type Annotations

Audience Q&A on functional programming concepts
06:04 MIN

Audience Q&A on functional programming concepts

A Guide To Functional Programming

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